Special election opponents start nonprofit group

Opposition to the Dec. 15 election to reduce the membership of the Navajo Nation Council and establish line-item veto power for the president has evolved into a new group called "Diné for Fairness in Government."

On Dec. 21, members of several Western Agency chapters traveled to the Navajo Nation capital to hold a press conference where they sharply criticized President Joe Shirley Jr. and vowed to block implementation of the special election.

On Tuesday, Tim Nelson, 50, of Leupp Chapter, said the Western Agency dissidents have been joined by people from other parts of the reservation and have organized themselves into the nonprofit Diné for Fairness in Government.

Nelson, who announced at the press conference that he would file a grievance against the Dec. 15 election, did so on Dec. 23.

The Intergovernmental Relations Committee has appropriated $150,000 from the speaker's discretionary fund for the critics to pursue their fight.

The complaint was filed under Nelson's name, but he said it belongs to the group, which was not in existence on Dec. 23.

Nelson said the group has been meeting every Sunday but is still working to set up a phone line for interested parties to call. As of Tuesday, the group had not scheduled a time and location for its next meeting, he said, but is working to organize opposition to the initiatives, which passed by a large margin in four of the five agencies.

Among those at the Dec. 21 press conference was Delegate Lawrence Platero (Tóhajiilee), who said he supports the opposition group. Platero said reducing the 88-member council to 24 would definitely mean his chapter would lose its only delegate.

Pointing a finger at Shirley's chief of staff, Patrick Sandoval, Platero said Sandoval "knows that I've been trying for the past 18 months to meet with Shirley about the needs of Tóhajiilee," but that Shirley refused to meet with him.

As of press time Wednesday, Sandoval had not responded to a request for comment from the Navajo Times.

Tóhajiilee is so far from the main reservation that its needs are usually forgotten by leaders in Window Rock, Platero said.

"We have to take care of ourselves," he said. "And that (reduction) plan is not taking care of the people."

Tóhajiilee, a three-hour drive east of Window Rock, voted against both the council reduction and the line-item veto.

"No one came to our community to consult with us," Platero said angrily. "It may be best for Tóhajiilee to break away (from the Navajo Nation)."

Julia Johnson-Curley, 76, of Gray Mountain and Cameron, Ariz., said reducing the council was "taking steps backward."

Speaking in Navajo, Johnson-Curley said the Navajo population is increasing and more representation was needed, not less.

She asserted that the low turnout at the election was the Navajo way of showing opposition to Shirley's initiatives.

"Our president is a medicine man," she explained slowly. "He holds that corn pollen so how could he lead our people into corruption?

"My dad was a delegate," Johnson-Curley said. "He said that a three-branch (government) was not good because they would clash. And that's where we're going now."

Shirley's spokesman George Hardeen attended the press conference but did not respond to any statements.

Rozita Kelly, another elder who spoke only in Navajo, recalled hearing about the initiative to reduce the council three years ago, which is when she started asking for details on how the change would impact her community, Leupp, Ariz.

Kelly said she asked to see a plan whenever she'd see Shirley's staff at flea markets gathering signatures for his initiative, but no one ever gave her a plan to look over and take to the chapter house to discuss with other elders.

Kelly said she keeps hearing how Shirley and his staff want "educated Navajos" to fill the 24 delegate positions.

"But young educated Navajos don't know how to work with elders," she said. "You have to be raised on the reservation. Some young people never come to visit their grandparents."

Kelly then turned her gaze on Delegate Leonard Tsosie (Pueblo Pintado/Torreon/Whitehorse Lake), who also was present at the press conference. She said Shirley told the people that the initiative came from them, but she heard Tsosie tell a forum at Arizona State University that the initiative was Shirley's.

"This was not the people's initiative," Kelly said firmly.

Other Western Agency residents suggested the election was divisive and diverted attention from Shirley's failure to improve the quality of life for most Navajos.

Robert Carr, an elder from Bodaway-Gap Chapter, said he came to the press conference expecting to talk to Shirley.

Carr said he wanted to tell Shirley about his 108-year-old grandmother, who lives without electricity, running water, wood for heat, or reliable transportation.

"One day she's going to leave (this earth) without running water," he said.

Carr recalled that Shirley has criticized the council for misspending the "people's money."

But, he said, it's Shirley's programs and staff that are not providing services to his grandmother.

"He spent thousands of dollars on lawyers," Carr said angrily. "We need to wake up and smell the coffee."

Collier Greyhat of Tonalea, Ariz., said he's concerned about how Shirley's initiative started arguments among the people.

"We're really fighting each other, attacking each other," Greyhat said. "Is this what we want? No. That's what Joe Shirley wants."

He said elders back home didn't understand the ballot because they couldn't read. Some told him they asked poll officials to explain it to them, so hopefully they voted the way they wanted to vote, he added.

"Why is the president creating chaos?" Greyhat asked. "What kind of leader is that? When he first ran (for president) he said he would lead us into the light. We are in the dark. We have to blame Joe for turning the lights off."

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